Editor—Wallace et al do not mention the normal sleeping patterns of the subjects in their study on the timing of simvastatin treatment.1 The relation between ingestion of simvastatin and periods of rest is surely more important than the time of day that the drug is taken. For most patients this would be at night.
Patients who are shift workers or night workers who usually sleep during daylight hours should therefore be advised to take simvastatin when they retire to sleep—rather than at night—when dietary intake is likely to be at its lowest.
Competing interests: JPB works in the same clinical practice as one of the authors of the paper (GR) but was not involved at any stage of the paper.
References
- 1.Wallace A, Chinn D, Rubin G. Taking simvastatin in the morning compared with in the evening: randomised controlled trial. BMJ 2003;327: 788. (4 October.) [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]